Where Should Kyrie Irving Play Next Season?

I was going to write about the supposed "bidding war" going on between the Cavs and Lakers for Derrick Rose today, but some bigger NBA news just showed up on my phone. Apparently Kyrie Irving is "displeased with his role on the Cavs", and "doesn't like playing with LeBron James".

This news may shock a lot of people, but for some odd reasons, I find it not shocking at all. Kyrie Irving is a ball dominant guard that wants to score 25-27 points per game. He cannot do that type of stuff when he is on the same team with the best player in the world. He also apparently said that he wants to "go to a team where he can be the focal point". I get this as well.

Irving is the type of player that should, and might be able to be, the alpha dog. I do not think that team would be a contender, but I think Irving would be a ton of fun to watch on a sub .500 team as the alpha. He had a chance, albeit very early in his career, to be the man in Cleveland. His first couple of years there, when LeBron was using his talents in South Beach, he was the new guy that the Cavs were going to build around. We all saw how that turned out. While he put up great stats offensively, the Cavs were atrocious. Sure, the roster was dreadful around him, but he was the leader, and if he wants to be a LeBron type leader, those Cavs teams would have at least been a lower seeded playoff team. They were lucky to win 30 games back then.

Then LeBron came back home, got Kevin Love to come there, and for all intents and purposes, LeBron was the GM and coach, as expected. Kyrie Irving should have known what he was getting into. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh molded and changed their games to fit around LeBron, so why now does Kyrie come out and complain and say he wants to be traded? He has been to 3 straight Finals. They won one on his shot and his tremendous efforts in games 4,5, 6 and 7 2 years ago. He was decent in the Finals last year. What is the problem?

Well, as I said earlier, he is sick of being second fiddle to LeBron. He is clearly the second guy, but that is not what Kyrie wants to be. He wants to be "the guy". Now, I just read on my phone that one of his preferred teams to go to is the Spurs. That would not work out for him like he wants it to. One, he does not seem like a Spurs type player. Those guys leave their egos at the door and play system basketball. Kyrie is not a system guy and he has no interest in playing defense. This would be almost exactly like LaMarcus Aldridge's time in San Antonio so far. Kyrie is more of a make something out of nothing player. The Spurs like to whip the ball around for the best possible shot. Also, the Spurs already have an alpha. Kawhi Leonard is clearly the new face of the Spurs. He is the perfect Spur and the perfect guy to be the face of that team for the next decade plus. If Kyrie were to go to San Antonio, it would be nearly the same as playing for the Cavs. Popppovich will not change his offense to tailor to Kyrie. I'm sure he is working on more stuff for Kawhi right now as I write this. He is moving forward with Kawhi as the focal point.

So about 20 minutes after hearing this story, and immediately eschewing the Spurs idea, I started to think of some teams he could go to that would benefit both him and the Cavs. Lets get this straight right off the bat, the Cavs will not give up Kyrie for a bag of beans, a la the Paul George to OKC trade. I first thought about some contenders. He wants out of Cleveland, Golden State is set, I already mentioned all the problems with the Spurs, the Rockets have Harden and Paul, the Celtics have Isaish Thomas and a great group of young players, the Raptors have Lowry and DeRozan and the Timberwolves have Butler and Jeff Teague. All those teams are off the table in my opinion.

I dug a little deeper. I thought about Miami. I think he would hate it there. They have a point guard in Goran Dragic, and they just gave Dion Waiters big time money. He has already played with Waiters and that was a train wreck. Memphis came to mind, but then I remembered they have an awesome point guard in Mike Conley Jr, and he just got a max contract. Philly popped into my mind, but I feel like he would be a disaster with that young roster, and I want them to build around Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz.

We are now left with basically the bottom of the barrel. He can go to Chicago and be the guy, but that team is not going anywhere anytime soon. Brooklyn needs a point guard, but that team also needs a 2 guard, a couple of good forwards and a modern big man. They also need a bench. Phoenix was my next thought, but they are another one of the teams going to the youth movement. They don't need Kyrie. New Orleans was another team, but they would have to give up Boogie, and they just gave Jrue Holiday a ton of money.

When I sat down, right before writing this, the one team that I thought this would maybe work out best for is the Knicks. But, they would have to give up Porzingis for this to fully work. The Cavs would take that, and then Kyrie would definitely be the man in one of the biggest markets. The Knicks would still be atrocious, but Kyrie would get his wish, and ESPN and TNT would put them on all the time. It is almost too perfect because of how terrible it would be.

Kyrie should stay in Cleveland if he values titles. But, he has one already, and maybe he just wants to get his now. Maybe he doesn't care so much about being one of the greatest point guards ever. Maybe he just wants to get paid. Whatever in may be, the Cavs should grant him his wish as long as they get a proper return. LeBron may say that he is "blindsided" by this, but imagine how happy he would be if he got to play with Porzingis, or his lifetime buddy Carmelo. I'm pretty sure he'd get over it rather quick.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

It is Time for the St. Louis Cardinals to Move on from the Mike Matheny Era

Time for the Cards to dust off the plate.

I've been sitting on today's topic for while, and I'm ready to put it out there. I think the time is right for the Cardinals to let Mike Matheny go.

Now don't get me wrong, he has been a very good to great coach for Saint Louis. He's been to the World Series, the playoffs and always seems to have this team in contention late into the season. But, the Cardinals have been, at least for them, pretty bad this year. They are a game below .500 right now, and if they lose to the Mets this afternoon, they will be even worse.

The current St. Louis baseball squad, while it doesn't have the star power of past Cardinals teams, does not have anyone that truly strikes fear into the heart of their opponents. They have names, Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Dexter Fowler to name a few, but those guys are either washed up, Wainwright, old, Molina and have not lived up to the potential, Fowler. In my mind though, a lot of that has to do with coaching. I feel like the coaches, and mostly Matheny, have just thought that the big time players would continue to be big time players. But, father time always wins. I love Molina and Wainwright, but they are not the players they once were. That is a fact. Dexter Fowler is my new favorite baseball player, but he has had a very inconsistent year, and he's been hurt a lot. But that lineup, other than those guys, is littered with names like Matt Carpenter, Stephen Piscotty, Kolten Wong, hell, that is all I can think of. That is part front office, part manager putting together this team. Yes the front office hasn't done much, but I don't think Matheny has really pushed to add big time, good players. Josh Donaldson's name has popped up in trade rumors for the Cardinals, but I feel like it is just talk. I would bet a lot of money that Matheny still believes he can win with Matt Carpenter playing third base. They can't. I'd do much rather have Donaldson at third. He is a better hitter and fielder. He is just an all around better baseball player.

It doesn't stop with the current squad. The Cardinals have had chances to add David Price, keep Jason Heyward, trade for Chris Sale, keep Carlos Beltran, get good young up and coming players for older vets, but John Mozeliak, the GM, and Matheny have said no. They didn't want to pay for or give up young prospects for proven veterans. That is the "Cardinal way", but it is getting pretty tedious to keep believing in the "Cardinal way". So many wasted chances to add top players because they don't want to pay them is very, very frustrating.

I know this is a front office thing, but I would be willing to say that Matheny doesn't know how to deal with stars. He's never had anyone bigger to manage than Molina, to the best of my knowledge, and Molina is a very subdued super star. I don't think he thinks he can deal with a big ego, even if that ego would help them win. That is a big problem for me. Other than that, he is too forgiving to his pitching staff. It seems like Wainwright, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn have been the core of the Cardinals rotation. Why in the hell did it take until this season to put Carlos Martinez in the starting rotation? Personally, I think that he is the best pitcher the Cardinals have. Sure he can be inconsistent, but he throws heat and has a very live arm. With young pitchers you should expect things like that. What I didn't expect was the amount of time in took for Matheny to finally put Martinez in the rotation. I'm sick of watching Wainwright get older and worse. Wacha had his moment, then fell apart against the Red Sox in the World Series and when I'm shocked to see Lance Lynn get a win, that is a big problem.

Beyond the pitching though, this team cannot hit and cannot score runs. They seem to get beat 3-2 or 2-1 or 3-0 all the time. I will look at the stats, I do not watch the game, and see that the Cardinals got 0 runs on 3 or 4 hits. That is atrocious. They either need to find a new hitting coach, or a whole new staff. Same thing for the pitching coaches staff.

Look, I am actually all in favor of trashing the whole coaching staff except for Jose Oquendo. He is the only coach I rely on, and he deserves his shot to be the head coach of the Cardinals. He has paid his dues, the current players love him and I think he would be a lot more willing and able to take chances with the lineups and on acquiring big time stars. If the front office were to fire Matheny and hire Oquendo, there would be no big hub bub. As I said, the players already love him, and I'd let him hire his own staff.

Mike Matheny has done all he could do with his time with the Cardinals. He is toast. Give Jose Oquendo the chance he rightfully deserves. Do the right thing Saint Louis.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He dreams of the days when Oquendo is the head man, and Willie McGee is the hitting coach. Could we somehow get Vince Coleman to come in and be the third base coach?

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Bar Rescue": Paddy's Pub Edition

Jon Taffer and crew were back this past Sunday with an all new episode of "Bar Rescue". In this one they traveled to a bar, I kid you not, in Nevada called Paddy's Pub. I even asked my wife if I heard the name right. I was so hoping to find 4 owners hanging around a wild old man. Unfortunately it was not the same Paddy's Pub from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". Plus it was to in Philadelphia

So what was the problem with Paddy's? This bar was in Nevada. Strike one. This bar was also owned by an older woman named Pat, and Paddy was a nickname. Strike two. She also was super old, but not very weird. Swing and a miss, strike three. She was more like Pauly Shore's mom, Mitsy. Mitsy is famous for being a hardass owner of the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Paddy, while not as menacing, was still in total control, even though she couldn't move around without a walker, and she was as hard on the employees, and her son, the new manager, as Mitsy was on up and coming comedians. Her son also had some kind of disease where he was going to be completely blind in a few short years, and this disease also made him suffer with a stutter. He was a mess. Needless to say, the staff did not respect him, so Paddy hung out there all the time. While the employees may have taken Paddy's verbal abuse, they weren't all that scared of her. As I said, she was very elderly, so the staff, especially the younger ones, did whatever they pleased. Paddy's son, even with his illness, was a total pushover. He let these employees walk all over him, and they fully took advantage of his poor eye sight, sneaking drinks whenever possible.

At one point in the beginning of the episode, one of the bartenders, Joy I believe her name was, comes stumbling in from outside, goes to the back to lay down and then proceeds to vomit. Mind you, she was on the clock the whole time. She was getting paid to get so wasted that she could barely walk, or even really function. She was a mess. The other staff, mainly Tawna, seemed to be legitimately good at their jobs, but they just stopped caring. This bar also had an enormous kitchen that wasn't used for cooking, but rather for storage.

Our hero Jon Taffer and his team, as they watched from the van on the TV screen in the van, said all their usual stuff. The staff was poor, this bar needed the kitchen, the son cannot run things properly, Paddy shouldn't be there, all the cliché stuff they do on "Bar Rescue". Taffer walked in after the whole Joy situation, and immediately went to Paddy. She gave him a big hug and he went into how moved he was by her letter. That's right, Paddy hand wrote a letter as opposed to using social media or email to get "Bar Rescue" to come. I LOVED this. Some things will never die. Anyway, Taffer called the son over and read the letter to him, and man did his mom beat the hell out of him with words. She called him anything and everything that Taffer would have called him had Paddy not been there. The son, of course, disagreed.

Now that the letter reading was over, they went directly into stress test the next day because the son wanted to show his mom that he wasn't a complete waste as a bar manager. They also reopened the kitchen to attract more customers to the bar. While the new drinks they wanted to try at stress test seemed pretty easy, the food, my five year old could have made. They were literally doing hot ham and cheese and hot turkey sandwiches. It was almost too easy.

Don't worry, the stress test was a disaster, as usual. The bar only had one speed well, so while the staff was doing their best, they kept bumping into each other. This caused drinks to be rushed which led to messed up or spilled drinks. The kitchen staff, while they did fine making sandwiches, kept getting confused by tickets, or lack thereof. The son was a nightmare. He had no tickets. He needed people to point out customers, he was all over the place.

The next day they regrouped and tried to figure everything out, but not before Paddy gave each of them a brutal tongue lashing. She pointed out each and everyone's faults that she saw at the stress test. It was rough. So while they all got retrained, learned the new menu and trained the new staff, Taffer and crew went to fix up the bar.

After a day or two everyone gathered for the big reopening, "Bar Rescue's" signature move. Taffer renamed the bar Pat's, in honor of the mom. The inside of the bar looked ridiculous. It looked like the waiting room of a not so fancy hotel. There were tacky trees and odd, almost old folks home style wall paper everywhere. They did give them an extra speed well and a new POS system, as is Taffer's way. Of course they crushed the re launch. Drinks and food were fast and correct. Even the son was finding people with ease and getting food and drinks to the proper people. They did so well, Paddy couldn't say one bad thing. She gave Taffer a big hug and while he was on his way out, he gave a creepy, longingly stare at Pat's Bar before getting in his car.

The 6 week checkup informed us that food and drink sales have gone up, but it also said that Joy was let go. I assumed she must have showed up drunk again because Paddy said she was going to be gone if she did it one more time. This was a very middle of the plate episode. It followed all the typical beats and rhythms of most "Bar Rescue" episodes. Come back next week for my review of the next new episode.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He spent the whole episode looking for loose rats around Paddy's Pub. Not one rat was seen, someone was doing their Charlie work.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

LeBron and Carmelo are Once Again the Talk of the NBA Offseason, and it is Not Good

Today I want to talk about 2 NBA players. I know that Summer League is over, free agency is over and all the biggest trades have already happened, but for some reason, these 2 guys have kept my interest in the NBA offseason. I'm always interested in all things basketball, but this is usually a dead period. Well, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James will not let it stay too quiet.

Lets first talk about LeBron. This seems to be the time of year, especially since he went back to the Cavs, when he perks up and complains about "the lack of moves" by the front office. I feel like this is just a way to keep his name at, or near, the top of the list when talking about NBA players. But, this constant whining has got to stop. First off, he constructed this team. I saw a bunch of people saying on Twitter and NBA message boards yesterday that he constructed this team, and it is true. What assets do they have that they can give up for a big time star? What young players do they have that they can throw into crucial games at crucial times so they get experience? No one, and I mean NO ONE, wants Kevin Love. So, I ask again, why is LeBron whining once again? He is currently the best player in the world, and if he stays in the East, he will go to the Finals again, and lose to the Warriors again. There is no way the Cavs could have signed any big time free agent. They gave a boat load of money to Love per James' request after winning the title last year. They are going to have to pay Kyrie if they want to continue to stay relevant. They inexplicably gave Kyle Korver a decent sized contract this offseason. They paid JR Smith a bundle after last year. The season before, they maxed out Tristan Thompson. They have also signed a few foreign players. So, what do they have that the Bulls would have wanted for Butler, or how much could they have given Gordon Hayward or how about KD or Steph who were both free agents? What could they have given Indiana for Paul George? There are too many questions with no real answers. I have read and heard that Love was in all these deals,  but no team wants him. He is now damaged goods. So for James to come out and complain about the front office, stop it. He constructed this team. He chose to have them trade for Korver. He wanted his buddy Thompson to get the max. He told the front office to pay Love after last year. He had them go out and sign Deron Williams, James Jones and Mike Dunleavy Jr. These are his buddies, but they are old and well past their prime. Also, no one wants those players for stars. They want assets or another star. And I'm sorry, but Love for Butler or George would have been almost as bad as what the Pacers got for George from OKC.

One final thought on James also, why does he care or feel the need to comment on this? Dan Gilbert gave him an out when he, out of nowhere, fired David Griffin. This was a terrible move by Gilbert, one of many, and now James can leave and not be the scapegoat. He won them a title, and Gilbert made a horrific front office choice. James can go anywhere next year and his jersey won't get burned and he won't get booed when he comes back to play in Cleveland. All his whining just needs to stop.

Lets look at Carmelo now. By all accounts, he wants to go to Houston. I hope this happens so I can snicker at how ridiculous that offense would look if he played there. I have already been on record saying that I think the Chris Paul-James Harden pairing is going to be a nightmare. Throw Carmelo into that mix, man it would be a disaster.  First off, both Carmelo and Mike D'Antoni have a mutual hatred of each other. D'Antoni went on a radio show 2 years ago and said as much. Do you really think that he wants to coach him again? Also, do you think that Carmelo really wants to play for D'Antoni? Carmelo likes to slow things down and go one on one. D'Antoni likes to run, run, run. This would also make their defense worse. Harden doesn't play any defense, neither does Carmelo. Ariza used to be a good defender, but he is not what he once was on that end of the floor. Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson don't even try on defense. That is not why they are there. Chris Paul is the only good defender, and he got outplayed by George Hill in the playoffs last year, and he is older. They lost their best defender when they traded away Patrick Beverly for Paul. Carmelo to the Rockets is a terrible idea.

Carmelo to the Cavs, almost as bad. It would be a similar situation in Cleveland like Houston. There are already 2 ball dominant guys, Kyrie and LeBron, and while they play more half court offense, does Carmelo really do anything more, or different, than Kevin Love does for them? Love is just as bad on defense, but he is a much better rebounder and throws excellent outlet passes. Carmelo doesn't do either of those. Also, Cleveland is already dreadful on defense, so throwing Anthony in the mix only makes them worse. Portland has been the other team mentioned, and while I like that fit best, it doesn't really matter, they will be lucky to be the 7th or 8th seed in the West next year.

Look, I do like both these guys. I know I'm being hard on them, but LeBron is clearly the best player in the world, and I used to love watching Carmelo play when he was in Denver. But, all this recent news has gotten under my skin. LeBron continues to whine, even though he is forever playing basketball into late June, and Carmelo is toast as an elite player. I'm thankful for the summer NBA news, but I'm just bummed about the particular noise that is being made.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Let Me Explain Why Roger Federer is the Best Athlete of All Time

Time for some real talk about tennis

THESIS:  Roger Federer is the greatest athlete of ALL TIME in ANY SPORT anywhere.  I dare anyone to prove me wrong.

Point #1:  Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.  He is inarguably the greatest male tennis player of all time.  Now, people will argue for Serena Williams, and I will grant that they have a point (ed note: check out our podcast where I make that point).  However, my thoughts on Serena’s lack of quality competition are well documented, and I will not bore everyone by repeating them here.  During Fed’s record shattering run of 19 major titles, he has been challenged by two of the very best players to ever play the game (Nadal & Djokovic each have over 10 majors).  With due respect to Chris Evert, the only other candidates for best tennis player ever are Steffi Graf, and Martina Navratilova.  Graf retired at 29, and longevity has to count for something.  Martina had a long career, in both singles and doubles, but most people think that singles is where it counts, and Fed now has Martina beat by 1. 

Point #2:  Unlike bowling/poker/billiards/Nintendo, tennis is a real sport.  You can be an overweight smoker and still win at those other activities in the modern age.  Tennis requires peak physical conditioning to perform at the highest levels.

Point #3:  I’m ruling out athletes in sports like running and swimming.  In those sports, you are playing against the clock, not against your opponents.  If your opponent cannot DIRECTLY affect your performance, I’m not counting you in the greatest athlete race.

Point #4:  What about Tiger Woods?  He doesn’t have the longevity.  Also, see point #2: overweight smokers have won major golf titles. 

Point #5:  What about cycling?  See Ty’s piece on “Tour de Pharmacy.”  There has never been a whiff of cheating or PED’s with Federer.  I’ll retract this point if it’s ever proven with him.

Point #6:  Tennis is an individual sport with no coaching permitted during matches.  You only win if you, individually, are better than the guy across the net.  In other sports, you have teammates to help you carry the load.  As great as an individual basketball player is, there are 4 other guys on the court to help him, and he can talk to his coach.  A great quarterback needs a good offensive line and some other skill players.  Great pitchers aren’t getting you anywhere unless the other guys can field cleanly and score runs.  Federer, by contrast, has to switch from offense to defense and back, often during the same point.  He has to work through the strategy, keep himself mentally sharp and engaged, notice his opponent’s strategy, and adjust on the fly, all without talking to another person.  And he might have to do that for 4 hours or longer, seven matches in a row in order to win a major title.

Point #7:  Federer has been in the very top echelons of his sport for FIFTEEN YEARS.  He has played a full schedule for 14 of those years, and the tennis season is ridiculously long, going from early January to mid-November with a grueling travel schedule.  The fact that he has remained healthy for nearly that entire time is remarkable.  He took his first major injury layoff in 2016, after racking up 17 majors.

Point #8:  Show me an athlete in a non-judged sport that shows the supreme physical grace of Federer.  At his best, he never even looks like he’s running.  To quote our friends at Deadspin, “…Federer’s desperation looks a little better than the other people’s very best.”

Point #9:  What about Secretariat?  Uh, let’s restrict this conversation to bipeds.  Also, see point #3 above.

Point #10:  The guy is committed to getting better.  After 19 majors, so many weeks at number 1, gallons of ink spilled, thousands of inane questions from the sports press, and 4 kids, he STILL seems to be enjoying himself.  And after missing the last half of 2016, he came back with a new and improved backhand.

Bonus Point:  For all Fed’s arrogance, he’s never a huge ass to his opponents.  He doesn’t whine.  He doesn’t discredit.  He doesn’t stink of violence against women or animal cruelty or drunk driving or being a bigot.  In short, in addition to being a the greatest athlete ever, he is not a garbage person.

Game, set, match:  Federer.

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest on the X Millennial Man Podcast. She is unaware of the grueling toll it takes on a person's body to drink that much Mountain Dew and eat that many Doritos while competing in online video game competitions.

We made a twitter for Tina, go follow her @TinaSeedsing.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

Ty Watches "Snowfall"

About 2 weeks ago the show "Snowfall" premiered on FX. I have been very much looking forward to this show. I waited before I had a few episodes recorded to start watching the show, and I finally watched the pilot and the second episode last night. So how is it?

"Snowfall" has some promise. I like the look, the story, the setting and the actors. The show takes place in Los Angeles in 1983. This is when the rise of crack and cocaine started to flood the streets. I'm always interested in stories like these. I like to see fictionalized versions of historical happenings. The main character, Franklin(Damson Idris), is a smart, soft spoken kid that just happens to be a drug dealer. He has tried to live the straight life, going away to college and holding down a job, but it just wasn't for him. He wanted to make a lot of funny, and make it fast.

Damon Idris, who is a total unknown to me, is pretty good in the role. He pulls off the softness, but also has the rough edges needed to survive in the drug game. Two scenes in the pilot really show this. One is when he runs into a kingpin in a club, she puts a gun to his throat, and instead of freaking out, he calmly tells her his plan. She buys it, and he is in the clear. The other scene involves another kingpin, there are going to be a lot of them it seems on the show, and he makes him put on a bullet proof vest to see if he is for real. Franklin does it, the guy shoots away from him, and gives him a kilo of cocaine to move in 24 hours, just to see if he can trust him. This particular scene had me on pins and needles. I am very excited to see where "Snowfall" takes this character in this first season.

We met some of Franklin's friends, and a possible love interest, but they didn't really flesh these characters out yet. At least not in the first 2 episodes. One of the kids, I barely know anything about. The other, he was in juvenile, and has a bad attitude, but that was it. The love interest is in high school, and I'm sure she and Franklin will get together, have some ups and down due to his job, but be okay in the long run. We also meet Franklin's mom, but all we really found out about her is, she has a stressful job, likes to smoke weed and seems to kind of know what her son is up to. I'm sure we will learn much more about her as the story progresses. There is some good stuff with Franklin's aunt and uncle, his uncle is his partner in cutting and selling coke. His aunt beats the shit out of a lady that claims to have been with his uncle. His uncle likes to get into fights and lift weights, but also knows when a deal can go bad. When Franklin comes to him after getting the kilo from the crazy kingpin, his uncle wants no part of it, but his aunt is on board.

Outside of Franklin's family, we meet a wrestler in the first episode named Gustavo(Sergio Peris-Mencheta). Franklin is a big fan of his, but he is not a good wrestler, and he wants to get involved in the family business, robbery. He wants this life because he is in love with a woman that happens to be involved as well, she is not related, so he wants to prove to her that he can be a tough guy. He is a quiet, stoic dude that seems to be in over his head. There is also Teddy(Carter Hudson), who seems to have a regular office job, but he is a "cleaner" outside of his regular everyday job. I like Teddy, even though he is kind of a cliché character in a show like this. He is too smart for his own good, had a breakdown but now wants back in the game type guy. He could be very important, and possibly even a cool character, if the show goes by it right.

There was a lot of drugs, sex, shooting and even death in the first 2 episodes. Like I said at the top, the show has potential, it just has to find out what it wants to be. There are a lot of different characters to follow, but it is not like "The Wire". No show will ever be like "the Wire". "The Wire" is classic, so "Snowfall" should stop trying to cop that style. "Snowfall" can be good, but it will never reach what "The Wire" was. There is a little bit of "Breaking Bad" in there, what with Franklin being a good kid that just happens to do a bad thing. Again though, don't try to copy off the classics. John Singleton's name is attached, so there is a good amount of "Boyz in the Hood" type vibe to it, but I say a third time, don't try to copy the greatest pop culture stuff of all time. "Snowfall" needs to find its own voice.

I still have a good amount of faith though. I was never bored during the first 2 episodes, and I'm excited for the third this Wednesday. I hope this show gets better and sticks around. I like everyone involved and it has the feel of something that can succeed. It just has to stop trying to be a show that it is not. Time will tell with "Snowfall". But for now, if you like crime/drug type stories, I say give "Snowfall" a chance.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He also doesn't want shows to copy "Family Double Dare", "Saved By the Bell: The College Years", and "Teen Mom 2". Leave the classics alone.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Being a Star of the NBA Summer League Does Not Make One a Real NBA Star

I have been watching a ton of the NBA summer league because, as I have stated many times, I'm a hoops junky. I love seeing all the rookies, the high picks, the mid to late first rounders, the second rounders, the undrafted guys and the foreign prospects. I love watching all the guys that are still hanging on to their NBA dreams, hoping for a contract or a chance in the D League. I love that the assistants coach. Remember last year, Becky Hammond won one of the Summer League titles as the Spurs coach. But what it all really boils down to, I'm obsessed with basketball, and any chance to watch it, I'll grab it like a loose ball.

All this being said, the basketball is not great. There are many hangers on that just shoot and shoot and shoot again. The defense is abysmal. The shooting is wildly inconsistent. Some, most of the guys there in fact, need to stop chasing the dream. Most of the rookies, I'm looking at you "one and done" guys, are still teenagers, and they're still growing. This makes them sloppy.

Summer League is a mess, but that doesn't stop the commentators at ESPN telling us how stellar all the youngsters are. Every time Phoenix is on, Josh Jackson is the second coming of KG. When the Celtics play, Jayson Tatum is the best Celtic since Paul Pierce. I was watching the Bucks the other day and they were saying that DJ Wilson can take some minutes from Giannis. Dennis Smith Jr is the greatest point guard the Mavericks have had since Steve Nash. DeAaron Fox is going to turn around the Kings. Lonzo Ball is the second coming of Magic. Hell, even before Fultz got hurt, he was the key to the 76ers run to the playoffs this season. All this stuff sounds great, and it's wonderful to look ahead, but these commentators need to pump the brakes. After all, it's Summer League.

At the top of this I laid out the types of players that fill up Summer League rosters. You didn't notice names like KD, Klay, Draymond, Steph, LeBron, Kawhi, Giannis, Jimmy Butler, Karl Anthony Towns, Russ, Paul George, and so on and so forth. All the stars do not play in Summer League because they don't need to. So all the accolades being handed out, wait until these rookies have to face real NBA players. Wait to call Josh Jackson the next KG unless he explodes on a player like Klay or Kawhi. I like Jackson, but that's not happening for awhile. Before christening Tatum as the next Pierce, I want to see him hit clutch three after clutch three in a critical game against the Cavs and LeBron. Before claiming DJ Wilson will steal minutes from Giannis, remember that people are saying Giannis is a future MVP. Dennis Smith Jr could be great, but the Mavs are going to be mediocre next year, and he will have bumps along the way. He's also going to have a tough time in the West against the likes of Chris Paul and Russ. DeAaron Fox is lightening quick, but he needs to learn to shoot and the Kings stink. He will not, at least not right away, be the savior for that franchise. Lonzo Ball has great court vision, but his jumper is disgusting, he looks disinterested at times, especially on defense, and wait to give him top line status until he faces the same guys Dennis Smith Jr has to face. His dad is also an arrogant asshole. And Fultz, who knows. He has a sprained ankle, and while that's a 2 to 3 week healing process, the 76ers might make him sit all year. He may not be the greatest point guard to put on a Philly uniform since Allen Iverson. The commentators need to tamp it all way, way down.

I remember last year that D'Angelo Russell and Larry Nance were Summer League stars. How'd that work out for them? Ben Simmons didn't play in Summer League. Jaylen Brown was a non factor but dominated Summer League. People need to realize the level of basketball they are watching and wait to assess these guys until they play real meaningful NBA minutes and games. This is the Summer League, not real, important NBA games. Take the expectations WAY down.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Jamie Foxx Gives the Performance of the Year in the Awesome "Baby Driver"

Get your rear to the theater and see Foxx and "Baby Driver" on the big screen

I'm coming to you all straight from Chicago, and I want to talk about my new favorite, "Baby Driver", once again. Instead of giving a spoiler free review or talking about a certain song, I want to single out who I thought had the best performance in the movie. First off, this movie is packed with stars. Names like Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Lily Adams, Ansel Elgort fill out some of the big names. But, one of the biggest names also did the best job, in my opinion, and that person is Jamie Foxx as Bats.

Jamie Foxx was tremendous in this movie. I know I kind of singled him out last week, but I want to dig a little deeper today. I know that Foxx is an Oscar winner(Ryan Gosling should have won that year), but for the most part, he's a comedic actor. He is not funny, at least not on purpose, in "Baby Driver". He's a psychopath in fact. When he first showed up on screen, in a cocked red leather hat and a big red sweater with a King playing card on it, he was all business. He was a criminal that wanted to get his money by any means necessary. He did not like Baby right off the bat, and he made this known immediately. He belittled and mean mugged him the moment he met him. He didn't trust Baby either. When Doc is laying out a plan and Baby has his headphones in the whole time, Bats is eyeing him. Even when Baby tells him the plan back verbatim, Bats is still skeptical. It only got crazier from there, and Foxx displayed that craziness to perfection. When Bats' team job goes awry, Foxx pulls off the psychotic side so convincingly, I forgot he was acting. I no longer saw Jamie Foxx, I saw Bats. That is how I know he nailed it. When I only refer to you by your character's name to people I tell the movie about, that means, to me, that you nailed it.

Later on, and this isn't a spoiler, when Bats, Buddy and Darling get together to do a job, Bats is still super weary of Baby. Possibly more so than he was the first time. Foxx played this paranoia great. I bought his skepticism, his worry, his want for truth, his need for everyone to be all in on the job. Then the cop scene happens. Again, no spoilers, but Bats shows his true colors, and it's horrifying. Mind you, Foxx plays this completely serious. There are no laughs to be had, only fear. I squirmed in my seat, and I think that's what Foxx and Edgar Wright wanted. The following scene, in the diner, was just as creepy. His breakdown of Buddy was eerily correct. His face to face with Debora, real scary. His shake down and argument with Darling was incredible. And his nose to nose with Baby, again, I was squirming. When they eventually do their big job, Bats gets what's coming to him, but it is shocking. I will reiterate, no spoilers, go see the movie to see what happens. You'll thank me later.

What Foxx did was undeniably great. Even people who aren't as high on this movie as I am have singled out Foxx's performance. He was incredible. I'd much rather he get the Oscar for this performance than for playing Ray Charles, and he was great as Ray Charles. He was so much better as Bats though.

There's a million reasons to see "Baby Driver", but Foxx's performance would be reason number one I would tell people to see it. See it on the big screen as well, to get Bats' full effect. This is the third time I've talked about "Baby Driver" in the past 6 days, and I guarantee I will talk about it a bunch more. This movie is great and Foxx's performance is noteworthy and classic.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has been a huge Jamie Foxx fan since his big-time breakout role as Coach Armstrong on the classic television program "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper".

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Bill Simmons Ego is Bringing Down "The Bill Simmons Podcast"

Next time Simmons will tell us all how he could improve sex, the US Constitution, and happiness.

I was listening to the most recent "Bill Simmons Podcast", and I've got to say, Bill Simmons is quite full of himself. I still very much enjoy his writing and his podcast, but man oh man does he think that his decisions make the sun set.

On the latest episode to get on my nerves, Simmons had 2 of his buddies, Jim Miller and Bryan Curtis, and they were talking about all things ESPN. They were talking about all the layoffs and new hires, basically all the news that has come out over the past couple of months involving ESPN.

Simmons exit from ESPN has been very well documented. He said something that needed to be said about that monster Roger Goodell, and since ESPN is in bed with the NFL, they suspended him, then let him go a few weeks after he came back. He then went into hiding for awhile before reappearing with his own company, The Ringer. I'm an enormous fan of The Ringer. I read pretty much everything they write about basketball. I listen to all their basketball podcasts. I enjoy their football stuff. Mainly though, I'm all in for The Ringer because it has Bill Simmons name on the front of it.

Simmons highly anticipated television show was a massive disappointment. This is widely known. The show is best known for a drunken rant about the Patriots coming from Ben Affleck. That's some reality show shit there. But, when pressed about the demise of his show, he never once took the blame. It was all on HBO. They put him on at the wrong time he said. They thrust him into a bad situation he said. He wanted to do so many things different he said. Basically, it was everyone else's fault. He said all of this, and even more on his own podcast, which HBO owns. I wrote awhile back that he needed to take the blame. He was a poor host. He couldn't conduct a proper interview. The only time the show was any good was when Michael Rappaport was on. He was too much of a  fan boy. He wasn't good for television. The show disappeared, and no one has missed it. But he still blames other people all the time.

Then we have the latest podcast. As I said, the three guys were talking about ESPN, and Bill Simmons kept chiming in with all that he tried to do to make that company money. He was patting himself on the back for creating "30 for 30", as he should. But, the self congratulations did not stop there. He claimed that he was the only person trying to get ESPN to get better advertising for podcasts. He complained that they only wanted Subway as a sponsor, and that "I could have gotten them so much more". What an ass. I don't deny that he may have been able to get extra sponsors, but ESPN doesn't need extra sponsors. One of my biggest gripes with his podcast is all the ad reads. They totally take me out of the flow. In fact, I don't like any ad reads on podcasts. It drives me nuts. That doesn't mean I don't want people to donate to SeedSing though. Please, if you can, donate to us so I can continue to do what I love.

Simmons also went on to say things about the people that got fired and how he could have helped keep them around. Does he think he was some kind of savior at ESPN? I guarantee on ESPN's list of important people, Bill Simmons was probably in the 40's or 50's. He complained that no one paid attention to Grantland. That's because Grantland was for hipsters, and who in the hell cares what those writers were saying back then. I know that most of his staff is filled with former Grantland writers, but they are 1,000 times better now than they were then. He griped that the higher ups wanted full control of "30 for 30", but he only wanted to do 2 seasons of it. Why would you want to end something so soon that was so successful? I would bet a ton of money that he wanted to close down shop so he could gloat to people in 25 years that he was the "genius" that created "30 for 30". I've got some news for you Bill Simmons, some other asshole would have come up with a similar idea, and it would have succeeded.

I hate ESPN with a passion, but Simmons comments on this most recent podcast really annoyed me. He is super talented, and many big time people have said as much. So why does he feel the need to constantly stroke his ego, I will never know. I'm not going to stop listening and reading his stuff, as I said, I am a big fan. But he needs to pump the brakes on giving himself all the accolades that he thinks he deserves. It is getting too be a bit too much.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may hate hearing ad reads, but the head editor convinced Ty that reading ads is the best way to podcast. Right Ty.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Tour de Pharmacy"

There are spoilers for the HBO film "Tour de Pharmacy". Go watch and come back to read Ty's review. It is currently showing on HBO Go, HBO Now, and periodically showing on one of HBO's family of channels at some time of the day.

This past weekend The Lonely Island and HBO released their second sports based faux documentary/comedy, "Tour de Pharmacy". I loved the first one, "7 Days in Hell", so I was excited for this second movie. When I say movie, I use that term loosely. This is basically a short. The "movie" runs about 35 minutes long. This is perfect for this subject material, and an excellent amount of time for what is basically a long form sketch.

Anyway, "Tour de Pharmacy" tells the "true" story of the 1982 Tour de France. This was the most drug riddled race in the history of bike races, according to the narrator, Jon Hamm. We all know now that, for the most part, the guys that do the Tour de France are dopers. It is widely accepted. "Tour de Pharmacy" takes this knowledge and makes it the entire basis of the movie.

Early in the program we find out that a rich German guy named Dittmer Klerken, played hilariously by Kevin Bacon, writes a letter to all 170 racers saying that they can do whatever drugs they want and they won't be tested, if they give him 50,000 dollars a piece. Klerken had built up incredible credit card debt due to a very absurd credit card ad in Sweden. The scene with the ad was probably my favorite part of the entire movie. It was so bizarre and odd and the talking heads comments on it were hilarious. If you watch this movie for one reason, make it to see the part with the ad. It was uproarious.

After the ad shows, they cut to the racers. They introduce us to 5 specific riders at the beginning. The first is Nigerian born racer, Marty Hass. He was played by Andy Samberg. Hass was born into a royal family that just happened to mine diamonds in Nigeria. They say that he went to an all American boys private school, and the people of Nigeria hate him. They hate that he is their country's representative. He is the epitome of a spoiled rich kid, and Samberg plays him hilariously. Another great part of this movie is they have the main characters as their older selves, and the actors that portray the older versions are perfect. Jeff Goldblum plays the older Hass. He is so god damn funny. He has some fake blonde hair hanging out of his hat and he wears African coats the whole time. Goldblum is just as funny as Samberg.

We also meet the first female, posing as a male, to ride in the tour. Freddie Highmore plays the young version of Adrian Baton. He was hilarious. His attempts to act like a female acting like a male was classic Lonely Island stuff. Julia Ormond played the older, and real, Baton, and she was equally as funny. She is a classically trained dramatic actress, but she pulls off the comedy to perfection. Her reveal at the end is wonderful.

Next up is Jackie Robinson's nephew, Slim Robinson, who is trying to get out of his uncle's shadow. He wants to be the first African American to break the color barrier, and at the time, cycling was the only sport that did not have many, if any, people of color. Daveed Diggs, of "Hamilton" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" fame is terrific in this movie. He is so funny, but understated. Danny Glover as the older Slim was equally tremendous. His wig is absolutely bananas. I loved it.

John Cena plays Austrian cyclist, Gustav Ditters, and he may have been the best in the whole movie. They show a picture from him the year before and he is rail skinny, then they show the actual Cena, and he is ripped. His claims that he isn't doping are so funny. The fact that he is that shredded, but constantly denies doping, is awesome. When the big fight breaks out in the first stage, and Cena starts to beat the hell out of people, I was in tears. Dolph Lundgren plays the older Ditters, and the whole "cheetah" and "cheater" scene is comedic gold.

The final main cyclist, JuJu Peppi, played by Orlando Bloom, was classic cycling cheater. He had so many drugs in his body that he actually died during the race due to a heart attack. Unfortunately for Peppi, he died while going pee, so his member was out when he died. There is a ton of male frontal nudity in this movie by the way. I have to say, while I don't like Bloom as an actor, he was really good in this movie.

The reason there are only 5 riders left is due to the fight I mentioned earlier. After the fight broke out, many of the riders came forward and said they were paid to not tell anyone that they were doping, and Klerken was the one that paid them. The only riders to not pay him were the 5 main characters, or as Seth Morris' ESPN anchor dubs them, "The Fab Five", claiming no one else will live up to that nickname ever. This was when we get a mini interview with Chris Webber and underneath his name it days, "a member of the much more famous Fab Five". Again, I was cracking up.

Lots of funny and wacky stuff happens during the race. I mentioned Peppi's death. Ditters get caught with cheetah blood, thus setting off the whole cheetah and cheater scene. Hass and Baton start to fall in love. Slim leaves the race to go be a farmer in France, only to return in the end. James Marsden, who was incredible as the announcer for the BBC, is involved in the race, but it is later found out that he is using a bike with a car motor on it, and Baton throws herself onto him to help her new lover, Hass, win the race. Just tons of crazy, hilarious stuff.

The people that they got to be the talking heads in the movie were phenomenal as well. Maya Rudolph is the head of a cycling magazine. She is great. Nathan Fielder is the head of the anti doping committee and he brings his dry humor to this movie, and it is pitch perfect. Joe Buck is himself, and he is really good. Mike Tyson and Lance Armstrong, both people that have done truly awful things in their personal lives, were actually pretty good in this movie. Lance Armstrong was pretty funny. Mike Tyson was a riot. JJ Abrams was pretty tremendous in his small role, as himself too. He plays a heightened version of himself, and I found him to be pretty good.

The entire cast was phenomenal for this small movie. The star, at least in my opinion, was Cena. He was the funniest of all the funny people in this movie. I have found that I enjoy Cena as an actor. Diggs was also really good too. Watching him try to get out of Jackie Robinson's shadow was just great. Jeff Goldblum was also really funny as well.

What I am trying to say is that "Tour de Pharmacy" was incredibly funny and I highly recommend everyone watch it. The Lonely Island seem to have found another niche that fits them, and I hope they continue to do little movies like this. "7 Days in Hell" was great, "Tour de Pharmacy" was better. I can't wait to see what they do next. Until then, go watch "Tour de Pharmacy" if you want a good laugh.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He recently competed his first mini triathalon and has his sights set on the 2018 Tour de France. Anybody know where he can score some cheetah blood?.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Greatest American Music: Beck's "Debra"

The Greatest American Music is a companion to our Greatest American Band Debate.

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

Last Friday I wrote about how the greatness that is "Baby Driver". That movie is a classic. I also wrote in my spoiler free review about the excellent music in the movie. I bought the soundtrack, naturally, and I have been listening to it pretty much everyday since it was purchased. This is not a review of the album. The album is great, and I highly recommend it, especially for 50's and 60's soul and R&B music fans, but one song on it has rekindled my love for a musician I'm a big fan of.

The song "Debra", from Beck's best album, "Midnite Vultures", is on the soundtrack. "Midnite Vultures" is a tremendous record, and "Debra" is the highlight of the whole record. It is Beck's masterpiece, in my opinion. That is what I want to talk about today, the greatness that is the song "Debra". This is also my way of getting Beck into the Greatest American Band debate, but I just want to talk about this one song. It is enough to put him in the debate. Beck has so much other great music, but "Debra" is a step above everything else he has done, and will do.

In "Baby Driver", Baby and his girlfriend, Debora, talk about all the songs that have their names in them. Obviously Baby has a ton of songs. Debora, not so much. They mention 2 in the movie. One is T Rex's "Debora", and the other is Beck's "Debra". Lily James sings the first part of the first verse, and then immediately after she does that, I was brought back into how much I love this song. Then after listening to it on repeat for awhile, both on the soundtrack and "Midnite Vultures", I fell even further back in love with the song.

Everything about this song is perfection. First off, I heard, I think RD told me in fact, that Beck has said that this song is his own personal tribute to Prince, and it sounds like classic Prince. The song is very funky and Beck sings his heart out, hitting notes I didn't think he could ever get to. He sings some of the highest notes I've ever heard.

I started to dig deeper into the song because Debora explains to Baby that the song isn't even really about a girl named Debra, it is about her sister Jenny. I had forgotten about that. I just assumed the song was about a girl named Debra because that is the name of the song. But no, it is about a girl named Jenny, and her sister Debra. The first lyrics, the ones that Debora sings, go like this, "I met you at JC Penny/I think your name tag said Jenny". Bam! Right off the bat Beck establishes that the song is not about Debra, but it is about Jenny.

Beck goes on to say, "I cold step to you with a fresh pack of gum/And somehow I knew, you were looking for some oh no!/Like a fruit, that's ripe for the picking/ I wouldn't do you like that Zankou Chicken". That is some Barry White esque game that Beck is spitting to Jenny.

It also has classic Beck nonsense like him calling out a chicken restaurant in California. For years my brothers and I would debate what he was saying. We thought he was saying things like "cold chicken", "microwave chicken", anything but "Zankou Chicken".

He then finishes up the first verse, "Cause only you got the thing that I just got to get with? I just got to get with you and you know what we're gonna do". Again, funky as hell. This lyrics are classic throwback R&B lyrics and Beck sings them like a boss.

The chorus is tremendous. The lyrics are, "I wanna get with you/ And your sister/ I think her name is Debra". That is the first mention of Debra in the song. That chorus though, it is top notch and the guitar and drums and especially the bass, are second to none. It is classic, and extremely well played funk/R&B music coming from the weirdest dude in music. He crushes the chorus and the guitar work. I love it.

The song only gets better from there.

In the second verse, Beck explains, "I'll pick you up late at night after work/ I said, lady, step inside my Hyundai/ I'm gonna take you up to Glendale, I'm gonna take you for a real good meal/ Cause when our eyes did meet/ Girl you know I was packing heat/ Ain't no use in wasting no time getting to know each other, you never do". He then rehashes the "Cause only you got the thing" verse.

Lets unpack most of the second verse real quick. Again, super duper funky. It has all the elements of funk music. He is letting Jenny know all his plans, and what he wants to do with her. He is a gentleman obviously, by telling her he is going to take her up to Glendale for a "real good meal". He also isn't boasting when telling her to "Step inside his Hyundai". I have a Hyundai, so I know that all Hyundai's aren't fancy. He is confident, but not cocky. Then telling Jenny that they don't need to waste time getting to know each other is some of the coolest shit ever written. Beck is the man. He lets Jenny know what he wants, and if she is down, he will be having a great night. The second verse is my favorite. It is so cool and shows some of the best bravado that I have ever heard. This is where the song really hooks you.

He then goes on to the chorus again. Only the second mention of Debra in the second verse as well. It just gets funkier from there.

He goes on to close the song with, "ooh lovely lady/ girl you drive me crazy". He then repeats that a few times and finishes it off with, "I got a little bit of sympathy for you girl/ Yeah, cause I'm a grown ass man". He could not sound any cooler than he does at the end of this song. He is truly "the man". He throws down so epically on "Debra". The song closes out with some of the grooviest, funkiest guitar and bass in any funk song ever.

"Debra" is a classic. "Midnite Vultures" is a classic as well. It is songs like these that make me realize why I love not only music, but Beck specifically. He makes so much different and unique stuff, and for the most part, it is successful. Go out and listen to "Debra" right away. This song is so great, and I guarantee that you will gain a whole new level of respect for how great of a singer and song writer Beck truly is. He is like no one else that makes music nowadays, and "Debra" is what opened my mind to his genius.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He owns a Hyundai because Beck planted subliminal message's in Ty's head that said the Sonata is a car for the smoothest of dudes. Come step inside to see for yourself.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

"Baby Driver" is a Perfect Movie

And this is the perfect music delivery system

I just got home from seeing "Baby Driver", and I'm here to tell you that you need to see this movie. My review is going to on the shorter side because I implore everyone to see this on the big screen. That is the way this movie is meant to be seen. Anyway, I went with my father to a matinee. I have been waiting to see this movie, so I have been purposefully staying away from reading anything about it or watching too many previews. I'm glad that I did it that way.

There is so much to like in "Baby Driver". Ansel Elgort as Baby is phenomenal. I didn't know who this kid was, my wife told me he was in "The Fault in our Stars", but I haven't seen that movie, so I didn't know what to expect. Well, he was outstanding as the getaway driver. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this is a movie about a driver that helps bank robbers get out of trouble. That is in all the previews. What makes Elgort's performance, and the movie for that matter though, is he is always listening to music because of an accident he was involved in as a child. He has a ringing in his ears, so to offset the noise, he listens to all types of music. I'd go so far as to say that this was a musical crime movie. The music is just terrific. There is a little something for everyone. I was also very pleased to see Baby listen to his music on an iPod. I think he and I may be the only 2 people in the world that still have them, and use them.

Besides Elgort's performance and the music, Jamie Foxx was great. He is bad to the bone, and when he is on screen, you know there is trouble. Same thing can be said for both Jon Hamm and Eiza Gonzalez, a relative unknown to me. They were a married couple that like to rob banks together. Their relationship was one of my favorite things from this movie. Jon Bernthal, in a very small performance, is equally as scary and as good as everyone else. His line, again, this is not a spoiler, "you have to be a little criminal to be in crime", should be the tagline for this movie. Kevin Spacey, making a return to the big screen, was brash, arrogant, rude and I loved his performance. It was like they took his character from "Swimming with Sharks", and put him in this movie. I'm always reminded of how good an actor he can be when placed in the right role. Lily James as Debora and Baby's love interest was perfectly cast as the damsel in distress. She was excellent as well. Everyone, even Flea, did a great job in this movie.

Edgar Wright also holds a special place in my heart when it comes to movies. He made "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End", all with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a trilogy of sorts, and I love all those movies. Then he made "Scott Pilgrim vs the World", and that is one of my top 5 movies of all time. I was predestined to enjoy "Baby Driver". But, I more than enjoyed it, I adored it. It was fast paced. There were multiple love stories. It was dark. It was humorous. It was well acted. It was especially well written and directed. And again, the use of music was just wonderful.

Like I said at the top, I do not want to spoil anything, and I feel like if I dig deeper into the plot, that is exactly what I'll do. Just do yourself a favor and go see this movie ASAP. It is getting great reviews, as it should. I love that it feels like a 50's heist movie, what with the clothes worn and the music being played, but it is set in modern day. I love Atlanta being the town that the movie takes place in. I loved every little thing about this movie. 

Just go now and watch this movie. I think that is the third time I have said that. It is so well done, and it is so nice to see an original movie nowadays when everything seems to be a remake or a sequel. "Baby Driver" is neither of those things, it is an original.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will never give up on his iPod. Music was meant to have the clicks of the mechanical wheel when a person is choosing their next track. It is more pure.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Better Late Than Never on the Great Movie "The Founder"

Yesterday I finally got a chance to see the movie "The Founder". I know that I am very late to this movie, but I have 2 young kids, and as I have said many times, it is hard to get out to the theaters. So, I have to wait to see most movies when they get released On Demand or via DVD/Blu Ray.

That being said, I had heard some pretty good things about the movie, and I am always interested in historical stories about how famous businesses came to be so famous. And, there is no business more famous, and I will debate anyone on this, than McDonald's Restaurants. They are literally everywhere. I can't drive down the main drag of my street without seeing, at the very least, 3 McDonald's within 15 miles of each other. So, when "The Founder" was released, my interest was piqued.

The story was great. How the McDonald brothers and Ray Kroc came to be friends, business partners and enemies, was very well told. Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch as Dick(Offerman) and Mac(Lynch) McDonald, were wonderful. Lynch played the soft spoken, big dreaming brother so well. He had grand ideas and he would do anything to keep them alive. He also suffered from diabetes and had other health issues that would become a major hindrance in his life. Offerman was exceptional as the more focused, business educated brother. He had a system, he kept it in place, and he'd be damned if anyone wanted to change what his vision for what a successful restaurant could be.

Michael Keaton though, as Ray Kroc, was the unquestioned star of this movie. He was so evil, so crass, so rude, so cutthroat, so singularly focused on his vision. He was amazing. When the movie started he was a lowly milk shake machine salesman, and, the more evil he got, the more successful he became. The movie was based on a true story, and I don't know much of anything about Ray Kroc, but if this movie was a proper representation of Kroc, he was a total asshole. Keaton pulled this off perfectly. I felt bad for him at first, got excited when he teamed up with the McDonald brothers, got even more amped when he started to franchise the business and then started to hate him, and I don't like that word but it is needed here, when he started to branch out and do things on his own, going against the contract that he signed at the beginning of his partnership. He became a ruthless businessman that started to take way too much credit than he deserved, and he became way, way too big for his britches. He even went as far as to claim that he had the first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois, calling it McDonald's 1. What an asshole move to make. Prior to all that though, I enjoyed hearing Mac McDonald tell Kroc about how he and his brother finally landed on a good business after many failed attempts. I enjoyed watching Kroc struggle as a salesman trying to sell his milkshake making machine.

Outside of Keaton's performance, everything else in "The Founder" is equally awesome. I loved watching the scene where Dick McDonald explained how they managed to be the most efficient restaurant in the US at the time. I loved the time period. I like most movies that take place in the 50's. I enjoyed Laura Dern's performance as Kroc's wife. She was not loved and given the attention she deserved, but since it was the 50's, she stayed with him until he wanted to get divorced. I felt horrible for her. Linda Cardenllini was great as the wife of a restaurant owner, played by Patrick Wilson, who falls for Kroc, helps him with his acquisition of McDonald's and eventually marries him. Patrick Wilson was decent in his small role as the fancy restaurant owner who buys a McDonald's franchise. BJ Novak had a very good role as the guy that convinced Kroc to become a real estate agent as opposed to a franchise manager because that was where the money was to be made. Kroc was broke before he got into the real estate business. Real estate was also his way of getting out of his contract with the McDonald brothers. Of course Novak's character and Kroc stopped their partnership because Kroc is an ass.

This was a very well made movie with an excellent performance from Keaton. Michael Keaton is kind of having a "renaissance" of sorts. Ever since "Birdman", he has been in some good stuff. He has "The Founder", and coming out this week, he plays the villain in "Spiderman: Homecoming". I am a Keaton fan, so I'm glad he is showing up in some really good movies lately. I'm surprised he wasn't recognized by the Academy for this movie. That is how good I thought he was.

If you watch "The Founder" for anything, watch it for Keaton's performance. He is electric. But, I say watch the movie anyway because it is made very well. The story flows with ease and you really get to know the three main characters very well. I enjoyed "The Founder", and I think you will too. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is ready for the biopic telling the story of how Whataburger was started. Get on it Hollywood.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Gordon Hayward Joining the Celtics Does Not Change A Thing in the NBA

Gordon Hayward officially signed with the Boston Celtics yesterday for 4 years and around 120 million dollars. This surprised me, as many of you may have already read, I thought he was going back to Utah, but I guess it shouldn't have. He was rumored to be going there all season, they had the most money outside of Utah to offer and his college coach, who he has known since 9th grade, is the coach of the Celtics now. And after a whole day of back and forth, it was nice to get a final decision from him before I went to bed.

As I watched some talking heads sports shows, many people were very happy with the signing and talked about how it made the Celtics so much better, and a real threat to the Cavs, or whatever team LeBron ends up on if he stays in the East. People also praised his decision to head out East since it seems all the good free agents signed with Western Conference teams. They claimed that playing for Boston will give him deeper playoff runs than anything he could have done had he stayed in Utah. No matter the fact that the Jazz were/are an up and coming team, he now, at least on paper, has a much easier path to a conference finals, and perhaps one day, the NBA Finals.

The initial reactions I heard and watched and read the more I disagreed with what most of what these people were saying. I was watching Summer League basketball because I'm a hoops junkie, and during halftime of a Jazz-Spurs game, the commentators were talking about the signing and how it shapes up going into next season for Boston. They continually showed their starting 5, with some key reserves. The 5 presumable starters were Isiah Thomas at guard, Avery Bradley at guard, Gordon Hayward and Jae Crowder as the 3 and 4, and Al Horford as their center. The key reserves were Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Kelly Olynk and rookie Jayson Tatum. That was another thing people praised, Danny Ainge didn't have to give up any "assets" to acquire Hayward.

The more NBA TV showed this roster the more I just kind of shrugged. Sure, it looks okay, but they were still the one seed last year with Amir Johnson, Olynk and Brown in Hayward's place. Yes, Hayward does give them an additional threat alongside Thomas, but is that good enough to beat the true title contending teams? I don't think so. Hayward made the right choice, since he left, to go to a team filled with role players, but I just do not see this current Celtics roster as any real threat. I already mentioned how they were the one seed in the East this most recent playoffs, but that didn't matter. The Cavs still destroyed them in five games. You may read that and say, but they didn't have Thomas. Okay, add Hayward and maybe they win one more game. There is no way that they will beat the Cavs as long as LeBron and Kyrie are there.

Also, Thomas, who I love, is coming off of hip surgery, he is getting older and he is listed generously at 5'9. Adding Hayward may take some pressure off Thomas, as far as needing to go to the rim, but he is not the greatest outside shooter. He is a decent outside shooter, but he makes his living hitting floaters and going to the basket to either draw contact or make circus layups. Hayward is a better outside shooter, but not as much a threat as some sports media would have you believe. Outside of those 2 guys, the only other outside threat they have is Avery Bradley, and I say that very loosely. Marcus Smart can't shoot. Jaylen Brown could be good, but he seems more like an explosive player. I know people are fawning over Tatum's early summer league performances, but remember when D'Angelo Russell was the star of summer league last year? How'd that work out for him and the Lakers? He is also a 19 year old rookie. Teams won't take him seriously, at least not the important teams.

It is a nice story that Hayword is going back to play for his college coach, but I had heard that he and Quinn Snyder had gotten real close, so why leave him now, one season after winning 51 games? I don't deny that he wants to play for Brad Stevens due to knowing him since he was 15, but I think his decision was much more based on the competition level in the East compared to the West. The West got so much better this offseason, while the East, well, it is like the JV version of the NBA, with the Cavs being the lone exception. Hell, if everyone can stay healthy for 65 games, the 76ers could push for an 8 seed. The only real decent teams in the East not named the Cavs are, the Celtics, Wizards, Bucks and Raptors. Every other team is a toss up. That means that of the 11 teams left in the East, if they can win anywhere between 38-41 games, they could get into the playoffs. We will have some West teams with 45 or more wins that may not make the playoffs. So don't tell me the decision was almost solely based on playing for your college coach.

Anyway, I do not think this signing tips the scales in any meaningful way for the Celtics. They were already a playoff ready team, who made the East Finals last year. But I don't think Gordon Hayward is ever going to be the answer to who can you get to beat LeBron. And lets just say that they somehow beat the Cavs and the Celtics make the Finals. I'd still take the Warriors, obviously, but I'd also take the Rockets, Spurs and Thunder to beat them in 6 games or less. I believe in my NBA preseason preview for this most recent season I had the Celtics somewhere in the top ten, maybe 7th or 8th (ed note - it was 4th best in the league). I will not be putting them any higher when I do my preseason preview for this upcoming season. Just off the top of my head, I know the Cavs, Warriors and Spurs are better than them. I also think the Rockets, Thunder, Wizards and maybe even the Raptors might be better than them too, which puts them as my 8th best team right now.

I'm sure Celtics fans will call me a "hater" or something stupid like that, but Gordon Hayward does not move the needle like a Jimmy Butler or Paul George would have for this team. Those 2 guys are far superior players. We will have to wait and see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Bar Rescue": Casual Tap Edition

Just because it's the Fourth of July, that doesn't mean Ty is taking the day off. Enjoy. 

This past Sunday we got the glorious return of "Bar Rescue". That's right, Jon Taffer and crew are back to save some failing bars. I hadn't realized how much I missed this show until I watched it on my DVR yesterday. I was so happy to see that crazy looking, mean yet helpful old man, Taffer. He is a national treasure. I needed to hear that shrill yell again. I missed it so much.

On the season premiere or mid season premiere, or whatever this show and Spike TV decide it is, Taffer and one of his drink experts visited a bar that shut down 3 months ago in Chicago. The bar was, and still is, called Casual Tap. The guy who owned the bar doubled as a firefighter, so it was hard for him to be at both jobs. His firefighting job, as it should be, was priority number one. His wife also has a disease called Huntington's Disease, which is kind of like Alzheimer's. So, his bar was pretty much number 3 on his important things list.

The bar started off strong, as most do, so the owner decided to step away and let his employees run the place. This is always a disaster. Everything went down hill. The people didn't know what to do, or they just didn't care. When the owner realized that he was nearly 700,000 dollars in debt, he decided to close the place down for awhile. He didn't give up, promising to reopen the bar soon, but he was close to letting it go. In fact, when Taffer shows up, he has to meet him at the firehouse. As I said, the bar was shut down. The owner told Taffer about the employees, the firefighter job and his wife. Just then, this became not only a bar rescue, but a family rescue too.

This is Taffer's personal wheelhouse. So, instead of a stress test, Taffer decided to see the crew in action in a very small sample. He had the owner reopen the bar and invited some guests. The bartenders, minus one guy, were not that terrible, they were just out of practice. The guy though, Louie, struggled mightily. This was bad news for the owner because he wanted Louie to be the new manager. Taffer warned against this, and even told the owner to let the newer bartender, Zee, be the manager. Taffer even went so far as to have the 2 take a mangers test that he set up, and Zee crushed it, where Louie, he crapped the bed. They had some intense training after this, and the owner still hadn't decided who was going to be the manager.

Taffer and his crew did their magic and gussied up the bar. They kept a lot, including the name, the bar was a mainstay, but they gave them some POS systems and other, newer things. They also tidied up the floor and walls too. At the reveal, everyone loved the place. They like that it looked the same, only a bit newer. They loved the new menu, and in classic Taffer fashion, he named a drink after the fireman and decided that some of the proceeds would go to Huntington Disease research. He also cut a check himself. Taffer may come off as an asshole, and then he does stuff like this. The owner was moved to tears, as was his daughter.

After they all gathered their emotions, they got ready for the reopen. During this though, Louie cut his hand getting garnish ready. He cut it so deep that he couldn't work. It looked dire for Casual Tap, but the rest of the crew stepped up, and Louie was not really needed. They had a great reopen.

During the end credits it said that the bar was taking a hiatus before reopening later in 2017. They didn't specify, but I hope the owner's wife and daughter are okay. I want this bar to succeed. The people deserve it.

I'm very happy that "Bar Rescue" is back. I missed it so, but now it's going to be here for the next couple months or so. They are taking one week off, but they'll get back on July 16th, and I'll be here to review it. Welcome back BR, you were missed, and I'm so pleased that you are back in my life.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He wants to one day open a bar called "Need Rescuing". Maybe the name will be enough for Ty to meet his idol Jon Taffer.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Insane NBA Off-Season is Looking for it's Dramatic Gordon Hayward Conclusion

We are now firmly entrenched in NBA free agency, and it has been wild.

First off, more things happened before midnight eastern time on July 1st, the "official" start of free agency. In fact, most of the big stuff happened before free agency started. It all began on draft night when the Bulls inexplicably traded Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves for nothing. The Bulls got fleeced, and I thought it wasn't going to get any crazier from there. And, for awhile, that was the case. Nothing too major happened prior to July 1st. Small things like Ricky Rubio being traded to the Jazz, which I think is a very good move by the Jazz, Rajon Rondo and Gerald Henderson being released, John Wall got offered a mega extension, he has yet to sign and Blake Griffin got the max from the Clippers after they traded Chris Paul, the other big move.

Then at about 8:30pm on June 30th my phone blew up. I thought the Chris Paul and Jimmy Butler trades were going to be the biggest deals, but the Thunder, you read that right, acquired Paul George for Victor Oladipo and Domantos Sabonis. I mean, WOW! The Thunder got Paul George for a second year player and a guy that hasn't lived up to the hype yet. They didn't even have to trade any future picks for Paul George! I don't care if it is just a one year thing, this is crazy.

I like this trade so much more than the Chris Paul to the Rockets trade. This is a much, much better pairing than Paul and Harden. Paul George is an excellent sidekick to Russell Westbrook. He plays excellent defense, can hit the open shot and he will take a ton of offensive pressure off Westbrook for one season. This could catapult the Thunder to the same level as the Spurs and Rockets. This doesn't make them a true threat to the Warriors, but no one in the NBA is a threat to them. I love this trade for the Thunder so very much. This makes them instantly better. I'm pretty sure it will only be for one season, I think that both George and Westbrook may bolt for LA next season, but for one year, they will make OKC almost as good as they were with KD. This trade shocked me. Especially for what Indiana got in return. They had to have had better offers, but they pulled the trigger on the trade to the Thunder. I'm sure Boston, Philadelphia or even the Rockets could have made a better offer, but we may never know. The fact that the Celtics, once again, did not do anything keeps me thinking that Danny Ainge is the boy who cried wolf, and he will continue to sit on assets forever. I'll get to more of that later.

After the shockwave of the Paul George trade, I did not know what to expect next. I woke up the next day and saw that Steph Curry got the super max from Golden State. This was well deserved and he is finally being paid like the super star that he is. The Warriors also got Shaun Livingston on a cheaper deal. David West resigned for the veterans minimum for his last season and after "flirting" with free agency, Andre Iguodala signed a three year deal to stay with the Warriors. The Warriors pretty much stayed put, as they should. They are the best team in all of basketball, and as soon as KD re signs, they are set.

I have a few thoughts on some "minor" moves. I was a little surprised to see Patty Mills re up with San Antonio, but then I saw the deal pays him almost 15 million a year for the next 4 years, and he will be a much bigger part of that team next season. Jeff Teague left Indiana after one disastrous season, and he is now a Timberwolf. The T'Wolves are making some really good moves, and I think they are preparing to be a playoff team next year. They also went out and got a veteran leader, who previously played for Thibodeau, in Taj Gibson. That is another solid signing. Taj Gibson was the only guy that helped Westbrook in the playoffs for the Thunder last year. He is not afraid of big time games. Some smaller named guys like Tony Snell, Cristiano Felicio, Nene and Kyle Korver all re signed with their current teams for average deals. Jrue Holiday signed an enormous deal to stay with the Pelicans, but I was not a fan of the move. The Pelicans need so much more help. I know they were much better with him on the floor last year, but is he really going to put this team over teams like the Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Timberwolves and Warriors? No way. I don't even think this move makes them a lock playoff team. They are fringe at best, even with Holiday. Langston Galloway got overpaid by Detroit. They must have serious buyers remorse in the deal they gave Reggie Jackson last year, because of they are giving Galloway 7 million dollars a year to back him up, yeesh. That shows no faith in their point guard if you ask me. JJ Redick joined "The Process" on a 1 year 23 million dollar deal. That is an insane amount of money for one year for a guy that only shoots threes. I do not think JJ Redick puts the 76ers over the top. Sure, it will be nice for the young guys to have a vet around, but I'd rather have Taj Gibson than JJ Redick. Especially at the deal each was given. Amir Johnson also signed a one year deal with Philly. Ho hum. Michael Carter-Williams is on the move again. This dude can't seem to get it right after winning rookie of the year awhile back. He was a disaster in Milwaukee, and he was even worse in Chicago. He seems to be the 8th or 9th guy off the bench for Charlotte as long as he is there. Joe Ingles got overpaid by Utah, but they seem to keep doing anything they can to keep Gordon Hayward. Ingles had a decent playoff run, but almost 9 million a year is way too much money for him. Houston did get a good, tough vet to team up with Nene in the front court in PJ Tucker. I like what Tucker brings to this team as far as toughness goes, but I don't know how he will fit into their offensive scheme. He's a good rebounder and defender, but he may not have the skill set to run like the Rockets, and Harden, like to.

One of the biggest surprises, especially when I saw the deals, was when Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry both re upped with Toronto. Both signed three year deals, and the contracts seem to be easy to get rid of if it doesn't work out for Toronto. I thought that Lowry was going to go to Philly, but they drafted Fultz, so then I thought Minnesota was his next stop, but they signed Teague. No one else really needed a point guard, so he chose to stay. He got a great big contract, which was deserved, now lets see if he can help put the Raptors over the top. Ibaka got the same years but 35 million dollars less. I think the market was very thin for him and he took the best deal he got. This is perfect for him and the Raptors. He needs to be surrounded by great offensive guys, which he has in Lowry and DeRozan, and he can flourish. I watched him do it for about 4 years in OKC. Serge Ibaka will be just fine in Toronto.

A hidden gem of a move is the Ben McLemore deal. McLemore is finally out of the hell hole that is Sacramento, and he is now a member of the Grizzlies. I love this fit. He gives them much needed scoring from the perimeter, and it always seems when a high draft pick leaves Sacramento lately, they do much better on their new teams.

The biggest news of today, July 3rd, so far, is Paul Milsap signing with Denver for 90 million over 3 years, with a team option for the third year. That means, to the layman, that Denver can release him after the second year there if they don't like what they have seen out of him. This deal is great for both Milsap and Denver. Milsap and Nikola Jokic will make a very good front court, and Denver has basically nothing at stake. This is a win win.

The only big names really left on the market are Rondo, if you still think he is a big name, George Hill, who I hope goes to San Antonio and finally get to play for the team that drafted him, Leandro Barbosa, who is 35, and Gordon Hayward, the white whale. I personally think, and hope, that he will stay in Utah. That is a very good, up and coming team. They won a playoff series last year, they have a great young, modern NBA center in Rudy Gobert, they traded for a pass first point guard and they have a very good bench and a very good coach.

Take Utah out of the Hayward picture, there are only two other teams that seem like viable options. Does he go to Miami or Boston? If he goes to Miami, he will be "the man", and I don't think Hayward is ready for that. He is a good basketball player, but he doesn't seem like the kind of player you build around. Also, I like what the Heat are doing with youth, and taking on guys like Dion Waiters and letting them play as freely as they want. Gordon Hayward should not be the focal point of a team, and I do not think he will ever be the best player on a title contender. He needs to be part of a group of great players. He can't be THE player.

This brings up to Boston. The Celtics, and Danny Ainge, seem to think he is coming to them wrapped in a bow. His college coach is the coach there now. They have a good group of role players that are all very good at their specific set of skills. They have a good amount of money/assets to throw around. They were the one seed in the East in the most recent playoffs. Everything seems to be written in stone.

But, this is where I go back to Danny Ainge being the boy who cried wolf. Every year the Celtics are going to get some big time player. Every year they are just on the precipice of signing one of the hot free agents. Every year is the year they get guy or guys that will help them dethrone whatever team LeBron is on. And every year, they do nothing. I cannot take that team seriously anymore. This year they were going to get either Paul George, he is on the Thunder now, Jimmy Butler, he's a T'Wolve and Blake Griffin, who chose to stay in LA. So why now would they get Hayward? Nothing they have done the past three years proves to me that they can sign a big time free agent. I also think that Hayward would be better off staying put in Utah. I will believe it when I see it with Boston, but for now, I do not see Boston signing Hayward. They keep saying they are going to do things like this, they had "deals" for George, Butler and Griffin and nothing happened. They had deals in place for Kevin Love and others before him and nothing happened. So why would anything happen now?

Now that free agency has officially started,Gordon Hayward is the last big name left. Unfortunately for Boston and their fans, I think he will stay put in Utah. Now lets get a decision Mr. Hayward.

Oh, and keep on bringing the surprises NBA off-season.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

I am Not Happy with the Amazon/Whole Foods Deal

Will Prime members be safe from runaway shopping carts?

The topic for today's piece, I have been sitting on for about a week. I have taken a lot of time to process how this particular thing has made me feel, and I finally think I am ready to put it out in the ether.

A week or so ago it was announced that Jeff Bezos and Amazon had purchased Whole Foods. A lot of people seemed to take this news and just accept it. I know that having groceries delivered happened in the past, remember Webvan, and it is making a small comeback right now. I know that a lot of people actually need this as an option, i.e,, the elderly, singles and others. I know that it sounds like a great thing that will make people's personal calendars more open. It all sounds very nice

Yet this Amazon/Whole Foods deal has been nagging at me for over a week. In fact, this whole thing really pisses me off and I think we are becoming way too reliant on technology. That may sound hypocritical for a writer on a website to say, but we are way too needy as a society, and our phones and computers are consuming us. Not a day goes by where I take my kids to the playground, swimming, riding bikes, playing sports, whatever we may do, and the majority of parents are sitting on a bench staring at their phones. I purposefully keep my phone in my car, unless pictures will be taken, because I want to see the joy on my kids faces when they go down a slide for the first time, or when they are on a swing or when they learn to swim or when they get their first hit or score their first goal or touchdown or basket. I want to be present when this stuff happens. But, more times than not, the majority of parents I personally see are nose deep in their devices.

I think Amazon and Jeff Bezos realize this, so they pounced when the opportunity to purchase a wildly popular grocery store chain came about. I blame Amazon most for this, but I get why they did it. Rich people want to be richer, just look at the assholes in D.C. right now, so buying something that will make them more money is what they strive to do.

I'm worried for our future for a couple of reasons though. First off, I genuinely enjoy going to the grocery store, especially with my kids. On Mondays, this is our outing. We go to a few different grocery stores to get everything we need. The drive to the stores is a great time to listen to music and dance, talk about superheroes, talk about toys, whatever my kids want to do on the ride, that is what we do. Then, when we get to the store, my 5 year old loves to help out. I have him get canned goods for me. I let him pick out whatever fruit he wants for the week. My daughter enjoys sitting in the cart and people watching. At the stores, we chit chat about the stuff we didn't talk about on the ride. My son would tell me about everything that happened at preschool when we'd go to the store on days I couldn't get there in the early morning. As I said, my daughter loves to people watch, and she sees so many people at the stores. And when she sees other babies, it is like she is making a new friend on every trip. I love going to the store with my kids. I love the time to talk and bond that we get in the 2 hours that we grocery shop. I love letting them pick things out and tell me random, nonsensical stories. It is so much fun, and I don't want to lose that feeling. I think the purchasing of Whole Foods by Amazon could take that away from me. That is reason number one why this pisses me off so much. Don't take this away from me. I will find other ways, believe me I have plenty of other activities where we communicate, but please don't take away my local grocery store trips. Please don't let this destroy local grocery store chains.

My second, and final reason that this scares, but also pisses me off even more, is the reliance on technology that I mentioned earlier. We are so god damn lazy as a society now. You mean to tell me that people can't take an hour or 2 to head to the store and shop once a week? Hell, I know some people that only go grocery shopping once a month. Why do these people need their groceries delivered? Going to the store is such an easy task, and you get to look and touch and feel and even taste the food you are about to purchase. With groceries being delivered, you just look at a picture, click on it, and the food will show up at your door in a day or 2. That may sound nice to some people, but to me, it seems like we are turning into the people from "Wall-E" or "Idiocracy".

Look at what happened to the people in "Wall-E". They became so reliant on technology that their arms and legs were super tiny because their stomachs were so big, and they rode around on pod like structures. When Jeff Garlin's character finally gets up and can barely walk because he has gotten so poorly out of shape, that was as sad as almost anything else in that awesome movie. That movie was very telling of how poorly things can go if we rely on technology to such a severe degree. That was a dystopia. I don't want to live in that world. 

Next we have the "Idiocracy" comparison. The fact that we can just point and click at something on a screen is definitely going to dumb us all down. We could just all be mute shut ins if we can just point and click. That doesn't take any real intelligence. You don't even have to really know how to read. As long as you can recognize bacon or cheese or any food stuff, just point and click. Not only does this make us dumber, it makes us lazier. If this is the way it is going to be, how long until we actually have a show called, "Ouch! My Balls", or a movie winning Oscars called "Ass"? Not too far in my opinion.

I really dislike this whole thing. It bothers me very much. I hate that it could take away quality time from me and my kids. I hate that the rich, big time people are trying to take local stores away from people. I hate that this is making the rich even richer. This is a nightmare for me. There is nothing but bad outcomes from this. It may sound nice right now, but in the long run, I think it is a terrible, terrible move. This stinks, and my only hope is that there is more people like me out there that truly like going to the store.

Don't take away my local grocery store Amazon. Don't piss me off anymore than you already have.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has written a spec script for a film called "Ass". Hollywood can call Ty on his rotary phone, and make sure to dust off your Oscar shelf.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Don't Believe the Chris Paul to the Rockets Hype

This still may not be enough balls for Harden and Paul.

Today I'm going to be talking NBA, but no I will not be talking about the mercy firing of Phil Jackson. That was a long time coming. He may have been worse than Isiah Thomas, minus the sexual assault stuff, and he will go down as one of the worst executives in NBA history. He was a great coach, but a horrific evaluator of players, and his decisions on players was awful. Good riddance.

Instead, I want to talk about the Chris Paul trade to the Rockets. On paper this looks great. On paper you need more than one star to win, or even compete, for titles. On paper this makes the Rockets the second best team in the West, and maybe in all of the NBA. On paper this could catapult the Rockets to a place they have not been since the early to mid nineties.

But, the games are not played on paper. In fact, I see this trade as one of the biggest paper tigers in all of pro sports. Now, to get it out of the way immediately, both Chris Paul and James Harden are 2 of the best players to play the game. Harden attacks and scores and gets to the free throw line like almost no other 2 guard I have seen. He also became an excellent facilitator in Mike D'Antoni's offense last year. And Chris Paul is one of the greatest point guards to ever step on a basketball court. He knows all the tricks, setting illegal screens, getting away with multiple fouls and running a team, and he is, maybe a better word is was, a great defender. So yes, these 2 guys are great basketball players. But, unless this team adds Paul George, I do not care one way or another about them getting Carmelo Anthony possibly, he is beyond useless now, I do not think this will work out for the Rockets and blowhard Daryl Morey.

I remember 2 years ago, when the Rockets signed Ty Lawson, I loved that move. I thought he would pair perfectly with Harden and Beverly in the back court. Well, that famously did not work out, and about halfway through that season, Lawson was let go, and now, he is a ghost. Chris Paul is much, much, much better than Ty Lawson, but, he is also more ball dominant. James Harden is also very ball dominant. We have seen this from both for the majority of their careers. Harden wasn't as ball dominant while in OKC, but since he was traded to Houston, he has needed the ball in his hands. He needs to run the offense. He wants to be the face of that team, and for the most part, it has worked for them. They haven't won, or even made a Finals appearance, but they did get to the conference finals a few years back, and they regularly win 50 plus games.

Chris Paul also needs the ball in his hands. He is the epitome of what a point guard is. He needs the ball in his hands to see the floor and run the offense. It has been like this for him, I'd feel safe to say, since he was in high school. He also ran the offense and always had the ball in his hands in his 2 years at Wake Forest. And since he has been in the NBA, at both of his stops, he has been giving the keys to the offense, thus putting the basketball in his hands and letting him dictate how the offense runs.

So, how will the fact that there is only one ball work for this team? I have heard people say that they will stagger minutes, these 2 guys won't be on the floor together all the time and maybe they will buy into what the Warriors do, and be happy sharing the ball. I don't think any of this will work. Why not have your 2 best players on the floor together as much as possible? Why stagger their minutes? Why is this okay with some sports writers when they lambasted the Thunder for doing this when they had KD and Westbrook? Your 2 best players need to be on the floor together whenever possible. That is how you win. Also, I don't see either Chris Paul or James Harden being okay with sharing the ball. These 2 guys have been the guy on their main teams, and they have made it well known that they want to be the one that their teams count on. I don't think they will be okay spreading the ball around like the Warriors. The Warriors, and mainly Steph, Klay and KD, did not care who was the guy to get the last shot or bring it up the court during crucial moments of important games. They all trusted each other, and they can all shoot and handle the ball. Harden can shoot and handle the ball, but he is quick to just hold the ball for 20 seconds of the shot clock and either jack up a three or try to get to the rim for a layup or floor. Chris Paul is a good mid range shooter, but he can't get to rim that well, he is not a great three point shooter, and the Rockets don't like shooting mid range shots.

I know that these guys played well on the Olympic team together, but the NBA is a whole different monster. One of these guys needs to be the guy to come up big in the playoffs. I ask, which one of these has had any big time moments in big time playoff games. Harden is the consummate choker. He may be the Dan Marino of the NBA. He has had ample opportunity and he has choked each and every opportunity away. Chris Paul, what has he done since college? I don't think Wake Forest ever got passed the Sweet Sixteen while he was there, and we all know about the lack of success with the Clippers. They never made it out of the second round with him running the team. So yeah, good luck Daryl Morey and Mike D'Antoni. You got 2 guys that have proven to be very unclutch in their NBA careers.

Also, how will Harden deal with Paul's aggressive approach to running a team? Harden seems like a very loose, laidback dude, and Chris Paul may be the most intense player in the NBA. Chris Paul is famous for his tirades against teammates. It is never his fault when his team doesn't make it passed the second round. It is always the ref, the coach or his teammates. He is never to blame. How will Harden handle that? I'd guess, not that well.

The one thing I do agree with Paul on with this trade is his relationship with Doc and Austin Rivers. I do think that Doc the GM is atrocious, and if he really held back a trade that would have made the Clippers better because his son was involved, that is real shitty.

I will say, the Clippers did get something in return for someone who seemed to be out the door in a few days. Free agency starts at 12:00 AM July 1st. The Clippers were able to sign and trade Paul for Patrick Beverly, Sam Dekker, Montrez Harrell and some picks. They did not walk away empty handed.

With all this being said, I do not like this trade at all. The Rockets got a great point guard, but they already had a great point guard that just happens to be a little too soft. Harden needs to be coddled, and Chris Paul will not coddle him. He will verbally abuse the shit out of him. And the Clippers, while realizing that they weren't going anywhere with their "Big 3" of Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, unfortunately traded the most reliable one of the group. Now Griffin, who is always hurt, and might leave too, has no one to throw him alley oops or get him open jumpers, and what on Earth is Jordan going to do without a guy that consistently got him open lobs. I feel worst for him. He was locked in a house 2 years ago by Chris Paul, among others, to re up with the Clippers, and now, Paul has left him high and dry.

While this trade may look good on paper, I don't see it making a real difference. I actually think it will blow up in their faces. Also, I don't think adding Chris Paul really makes them a threat to the Warriors, but I also think the Spurs are still better, and whatever team LeBron James is on will beat them. This trade is not as great as some may have you believe. Prove me wrong Houston, but I'm just waiting for this to be a total disaster for them, and for Paul to leave in free agency after the 2017-18 season.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Cloves and Fedoras: Go Watch the Funny, and Dark, Movie "Freaks of Nature"

The other day I was flipping through the movie channels at home and I came across something that peaked my interest on one of the Showtime channels. I missed the name of the movie at first, but I saw the opening credits, and it was the cast that pulled me in. I saw names like Pat Healy, Patton Oswalt, Dennis Leary, Joan Cusack, Sam Westwick, Bob Odenkirk, Mae Whitman, Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Fadem. I like all of these people. Most are comedians that are actors that I have loved from hearing their stand up. Others are just born and bred actors that, for the most part, I enjoy. I also recognized the face of the male and female leads, Nicholas Braun, from "Sky High" and Mackenzie Davis, from "The Martian". I watched the movie for a bit and enjoyed it, but it is a bit too blue for my young kids, so I searched the name and recorded it to watch later. The movie is called "Freaks of Nature". By no means is this some epic, awesome movie like "Logan" or "Mad Max: Fury Road". But, "Freaks of Nature" filled that broad, absurd comedy/horror movie I tend to like.

"Freaks of Nature" takes place in a fictional town called Dillford where humans, vampires and zombies live among each other. The zombies have dog collar like things on their necks so they don't eat people's brains while everyone is out and about. The vampires only come out at night, unless they are in school, then they are put into dark classrooms. I like this type of stuff. It wasn't a zombie and vampire movie that was an end of the world type thing, they were just characters in a comedy.

When the movie started, there was a very big scene where both Braun and Hudgens were running from a mob filled with zombies, humans and vampires. A big fight had started over all the townspeople treating each other wrong. We then get a flashback to the previous day to see why this all started. There were some very funny scenes in the first part of this movie. Braun and his buddy complain about a girl that he likes. Fadem is a very smart kid that has his dreams crushed by a vampire teacher, excellently played by Keegan Michael Key. His first scene, in the teachers lounge, was laugh out loud funny. When he is constantly berating his fellow teachers, I was howling. Keegan Michael Key is a very, very funny and good actor.

Josh Fadem was also equally good in this movie. I like Josh Fadem a lot. He is odd, his comedy is weird, but put him in the right situation and he can thrive. He is great on "Better Caul Saul", and he was excellent as one of the leads in "Freaks of Nature". He has a crummy home life because his parents only care about their baseball star son, so he decides one day that he wants to be a zombie, and he lets Mae Whitman, who is already a zombie, bite him. His turn from smart student to zombie is very funny.

We also have Mackenzie Davis, who was also very decent in the movie. She is dating Westwick, who is a vampire, and she goes to a party with him one night, expecting to lose her virginity. But, he bites her instead, and she becomes a vampire herself. Watching her transformation is sad at first, but then becomes funny and ends pretty kick ass.

All this stuff happens prior to the very first scene, and then we have an alien invasion. All the fighting between the townspeople stops and they try to figure out how to stop these aliens. Fadem, Davis and Braun are some of the lone survivors from the big fight, then the invasion, so it is up to them to stop the aliens. they ban together, a human, vampire and zombie, and try to figure out how to get rid of this big threat. I loved all the stuff between the three of them. There was a great scene with Patton Oswalt, who is in a bunker, letting them in, saying some crazy stuff and then eventually getting eaten by Fadem while his mom gets eaten by Davis. I know it sounds gross and dour, but believe me, it was actually very funny.

I don't want to spoil too much for people because I think you should really search this movie out. I have given love to everyone in the movie, and Braun is the last. He was really good in this movie. I loved his role in "Sky High", so I was already a fan. But, to see him in an R rated movie was very cool. He is older, so he should try stuff like this, and I thought he did a very good job. He was funny. His interactions with his parents, wonderfully played by Cusack and Odenkirk was great. His crush on Hudgens, who was clearly not interested in him, was relatable. and his scenes opposite Davis were great.

Look, this movie will not be remembered as some great, classic genre bending movie. But, it was funny, I enjoyed watching it, and the cast, as far as comedy wise, was second to none. I was very happy to see Fadem in a starring role. He deserves more stuff like this. Davis was great. Braun was awesome. The rest of the cast, especially Key, was tremendous. I highly recommend people checking out "Freaks of Nature". Like I said, I found it on Showtime, so they will re air it a bunch for a couple months. If you don't have premium cable, I bet it is on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, whatever you may have. Check this movie out. It is funny and absurd, in all the right ways.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He one time was channel surfing and saw a show called "The Red Shoe Diaries" on Showtime. That was an adaptation of an old Tom Hanks comedy, right?

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Some Thoughts on the Dumb NBA Awards Show, and the Awesome Big 3

The NBA finally handed out their regular season awards last night because who doesn't want to know who the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player are a couple of weeks after the season has already ended. The whole ceremony was stupid and pointless, and I didn't watch a single second of it. Whenever an award was announced, my phone buzzed and told me who the winner was. I didn't have to sit through any monotonous Drake monologues or sketches to find out that Eric Gordon was going to win 6th man of the Year. In fact, the only thing I watched, which I watched this morning, was Russell Westbrook's MVP acceptance speech. That was the only good thing about the whole proceedings last night. Go watch his speech because it is remarkable.

But, as I said, the awards went as everyone thought. Of course Eric Gordon was going to win 6th man. He was great all year off the bench for Houston. Of course D'Antoni was going to win Coach of the Year. Sure, his team faltered in the playoffs, but these are regular season awards, and the Rockets were great inhe regular season. Giannis was definitely Most Improved. The dude has gotten better every season, and now, he is on the precipice of being an MVP caliber player. I could argue Kawhi over Draymond for Defensive Player of the Year, but honestly, Draymond was incredible on defense this year. He truly did guard all five positions, and at a very high rate.

The MVP, god damn right is was Russ. He deserved it more than anyone else that was up for the award. He had the least amount of talent around him, lost Serge Ibaka and KD, averaged a triple double and led a very undermanned team to 45 wins. He was far and away the best player, and the most fun, to watch this season.

I also did not care about any of the new awards. That was a lame attempt at making this stupid awards show 2 hours long. Who cares about best dunk game winner or fashion moment? It was a complete waste of time. So, no, the NBA awards show is not what I want to talk about today.

I was getting my daughter ready for bed last night and RD texted me to ask if I was watching the Big 3. I had totally spaced out and forgot that it was on. So after my daughter had her PJ's on and her teeth brushed, I immediately turned it to Fox Sports 1 and watched the Big 3. It was sloppy. The guys looked winded. No one was trying the 4 point shot. Most of the players looked their age. They looked gassed playing only half court. And Jason Williams, AKA "white Chocolate", might be done playing basketball forever after his gruesome injury.

All that being said, I loved every second that I watched. It was so awesome to see former NBA players playing 3 on 3 basketball like I do almost every week. I wrote a couple weeks back about how excited I am for the 2020 Olympics because they will have 3 on 3 basketball. Last night was a glimpse into the future for me, and I have to say, it was tremendous. Yeah it was sloppy, but, when the guys did make a play, it brought me back to what made them so much fun to watch when they were in the NBA. White Chocolate, before his injury, had this great hesitation move to beat a bigger man to the hoop and I was flooded with memories of him doing that to great defensive NBA guys in his heyday. Kwame Brown, never a star but had a decent career, could barely get above the rim, but he was grabbing rebounds and swatting smaller guys shots with ease. Rashard Lewis looked best of the early games I saw. He was creating shots, making jumpers and playing some decent defense. He looked like he could still be a bench player for someone in the NBA. It was also oddly comforting to see a guy like Ricky Davis shoot 4 of 14. He was always a spotty shooter but kept shooting, and last night was no different. Mike Bibby looked a bit bigger than I remember, but he was fighting for rebounds and dropping some dimes here and there. Hell, even DeShawn Stevenson hit a game winner, and I was excited to see that outcome. I know Allen Iverson didn't play much in his first game, but it was still fantastic to see AI playing basketball with 15,000 people watching him. He was still rocking the cornrows, the shooting sleeve and the headband. Yeah he wasn't driving to the hoop as much, but he was making jumpers. I can't wait to see Kenyon Martin when I get the chance to watch this again. There are so many other players I want to watch.

The game I got to see the most of was the team that had White Chocolate and Rashard Lewis playing the Ricky David "led" team. And I will say it again, it was a total blast. I didn't see too many 4 point shot attempts, but as the season goes on, I'm sure more guys will start to try it. I also loved that they play to 60, counting by 2's, 3's and sometimes a 4 pointer here and there, and that halftime is when one of the teams gets to 30. The Big 3 has potential to be enormous. The stadium, for what the event was, was packed. I know that RD and I were watching, but I also know that a lot of people I play basketball with and coach with were watching too. I'm sure a lot of other people tuned in out of pure curiosity. We also got Michael Rappaport as the sideline reporter and Gus Johnson as the play by play guy.

Look everything started out wonderfully. I just hope it keeps up because I want the Big 3 to stay. This is the perfect thing to fill that sports void for me right now. Baseball is boring, I don't watch tennis or soccer, the NBA is done, Summer League is right around the corner though, and football is still a few months away. The Big 3 filled that need for watching sports that I had last night. I hope the Big 3 continues to grow and continues to get better. This could be the next big thing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.